Join Amazon Prime for exclusive deals, fast shipping, and endless entertainment! Sign up now!
Two police officers and a paramedic firefighter were shot and killed in a heated gun battle, which started with a “distress” call coming from a suburban Minnesota home. The incident happened Sunday, February 18 in the town of Burnsville. A third police officer was injured.
Family in distress
Police showed up to a distress call involving domestic violence and firearms. When they got there, they found a mom and her children being held hostage by the man of the house, later identified as Shannon Gooden, 38.
The “suspect was armed with multiple guns and large amounts of ammunition. He had barricaded himself inside the home with his family, who included seven children ages 2 to 15.”
Laws don’t matter when they aren’t enforced, so he had no problem getting guns he wasn’t legally allowed to have. He won’t be charged for that because he’s dead now. Besides that, he had “been entangled in a yearslong dispute over the custody and financial support of his three oldest children.”
RIP. Minnesota Police Officer Paul Elmstrand was murdered when he and his partner were ambushed while responding to a domestic violence call. Officer Elmstrand served his community for six years and was a member of the Honor Guard. STOP SHOOTING MY POLICE OFFICERS!!! pic.twitter.com/uRIewxJauj
— Protecting the Blue (@protectingblue) February 18, 2024
Back in 2008, he put a man in distress at a Burnsville shopping mall parking lot. That time, “prosecutors said he threw rocks and pulled a knife” on the guy.
Police patiently spent four hours negotiating with Gooden before he had enough and started shooting. That’s when the SWAT team went in and a raging gun battle ensued. Officers engaged the shooter repeatedly as he retreated from them, room-to-room through the house, blasting all the way. “The man shot at officers from multiple positions in the home, including the upper and lower floors.”
After the cordite smoke cleared, the suspect, two cops, and a fire fighter were dead. Another officer suffered an undisclosed “injury.” Update reports note the family members in distress all came out safe and unharmed.
Bravery and sacrifice
As Minnesota Governor Tim Walz posted on social media, “we must never take for granted the bravery and sacrifices our police officers and first responders make every day. My heart is with their families today and the entire State of Minnesota stands with Burnsville.”
Ever since the George Floyd debacle, its the police who are in distress. The ones who haven’t been completely defunded out of existence.
Both of the slain officers, Paul Elmstrand and Matthew Ruge, were 27-years-old. Paramedic Adam Finseth was 40. The Police and Peace Officers Association is also in distress over the tragedy.
Here is the alleged shooter, Shannon Cortez Gooden, 38, accused of shooting two officer and a paramedic in Burnsville, Minnesota.
Gooden is doing target practice while joking that he is envisioning a "white person" as the target and says that a woman who is filming is… pic.twitter.com/Zm57Ao9QmL
— I Meme Therefore I Am ???????? (@ImMeme0) February 19, 2024
“We are heartbroken. Our law enforcement community is heartbroken. We’re just devastated at the horrific loss,” Director Brian Peters said in a statement.
According to Police Chief Tanya Schwartz, “We’re hurting. Today, three members of our team made the ultimate sacrifice for this community. They are heroes.”
Adding to the distress level for all local first responders, “Ruge, hired in 2020, was on the department’s crisis negotiations team and was a physical evidence officer.“
